Friday

Chicago has been one of the NHL's strongest team all year, while Philadelphia has caught fire in playoffs. The Blackhawks have the edge in what should be a long but fast-paced series.

Do the math, and the Chicago Blackhawks are about to win the Stanley Cup for the first time since 1961.

They were 11 wins and 24 points better than the Eastern Conference champion Philadelphia Flyers during the regular season – and Chicago played in the tougher Western Conference.

The ’Hawks reached the Cup finals by knocking off the Nos. 7, 3 and 1 seeds in the West – Nashville, Northwest Division champ Vancouver and Presidents Trophy winner San Jose, the latter in a four-game sweep.

The Flyers? They won the East by knocking off No. 2 New Jersey, the top team in the Atlantic Division, but didn’t see another division champion after that. The next two victims were No. 6 Boston and No. 8 Montreal.

But there’s something about Philadelphia, isn’t there?

The mid-December coaching change, the shootout win on the last day of the season to qualify for the playoffs, the – gulp – reversal of the 0-3 series deficit to beat the Bruins in Round 2, reaching the finals behind not one, but two backup goalies … it’s all been enough to leave a tough old buzzard like Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren, a staple of the mid-1970s Broad Street Bullies days, using words like “magic,” while countless speak of “Cinderella.”

Some perspective is in order here: The Flyers had no business backing into the playoffs as a No. 7 seed – not with a lineup that boasts top-end offensive talent like Mike Richards, Danny Briere, Jeff Carter, Simon Gagne, Claude Giroux and Ville Leino, defense led by tireless Chris Pronger, and an aggressive, physical style that can make weaker, thinner, smaller teams shrink even further.

The Blackhawks don’t fall into those categories. They’re stronger, deeper and bigger than any team the Flyers have faced in the playoffs, which is why they should end the longest current Cup drought of any team to have won at least once.

The difference between the teams isn’t enormous, but it’s there. Take the defensemen, for example.

As anyone who watched the Flyers down the Bruins knows, coach Peter Laviolette plays four blue-liners as much as he can (Pronger, whose postseason ice-time average is 28 minutes, 48 seconds per game, followed by Kimmo Timonen, 26:35; Matt Carle, 25:25; and Braydon Coburn, 24:23), and sprinkles in Lukas Krajicek (10:32) and Ryan Parent (7:53) when he thinks he can get away with it.

Chicago, meanwhile, comes close to rotating five on the blue line. Norris Trophy finalist Duncan Keith (27:52) and Brent Seabrook (23:49) are the ’Hawks’ shut-down pairing, but three others – Niklas Hjalmarsson (21:12), Brian Campbell (19:37) and Brent Sopel (18:36) take a good amount of load off the top two. Jordan Henry (8:15) is the only defender who doesn’t skate regularly.

One could argue that Philly has a slight edge when it comes to lines with scoring potential, with Richards-Gagne-Carter and Briere-Scott Hartnell-Ville Leino a formidable 1-2 punch, and Giroux (8-9—17) a nice option to throw into any mix. Chicago counters, however, with the best No. 1 line in the playoffs – postseason scoring leader Jonathan Toews (7-19—26 in just 16 games), entertaining Patrick Kane (7-13—20) and Dustin Byfuglien, the bull in a china shop who has rebounded from a scoreless first round to score eight goals (four game-winners) over the last two series. There’s not much wrong, either, with a second line centered by under-appreciated Patrick Sharp (7-9—16) that includes Marian Hossa.

Michael Leighton (6-1, 1.45, .948) has been hot since taking over Philadelphia’s goaltending chores from injured Brian Boucher, but those numbers might be a little deceiving: He got to play four games against Montreal in the conference final, and coach Jacques Martin’s Canadiens aren’t much into shooting and scoring. Chicago’s Antti Niemi (12-4, 2.33, .921) has faced formidable offensive teams (Vancouver, San Jose) in the last two rounds, and his previous lack of NHL experience hasn’t hurt.

Special teams? About even. Experience? A bit of an edge to Philadelphia, which has a few more players who’ve been around the block (but don’t forget Chicago’s John Madden, a multiple Cup winner in New Jersey). The Blackhawks haven’t done much with home ice (5-3), but they’ve been great on the road (7-1), and for all the credit the Flyers get for their resilience, it’s not like they’ve cornered the market: Chicago lost Game 1 in Rounds 1 and 2, and had to overcome a 1-2 deficit against first-round foe Nashville.

Thankfully, Laviolette and Chicago coach Joel Quenneville will keep the series trap-free. Both teams hit hard, and push hard to score. This shouldn’t be a bore, and shouldn’t be finished quickly, either. It’s a pick-’em series, and Chicago’s the pick here.

The Patriot Ledger

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